Spider-Man: Shrouded in the Black
by escapexchaos
Summary: Peter Parker isn't an ordinary person. He has special powers that separate him from the rest. He uses his powers to help people as Spider-Man. It's not easy being a big-time superhero, though. He has to keep his secret from everybody.
1. Chapter 1

Five-year-old Peter Parker was at his Aunt May and Uncle Ben's house playing in the front yard with his friend, Eddie Brock Jr. Inside, May and Ben were watching him.

"Should we tell him?" May asked.

"He's just a kid. He won't understand," Ben said. "But… I guess now is as good a time as any. It's like taking off a Band-Aid. We just have to get it over with as quickly as possible."

"And what about Eddie?" May asked him.

"Same thing. We might as well kill two birds with one stone." Ben replied with a sigh.

The couple opened the door and stepped outside.

"Peter. Eddie. Could you two come here please? We need to talk," May called out.

The two ran up to them.

"What?" Eddie asked.

"Boys… This is hard for me to tell you, but…" May choked up.

"Your parents… They… They died, Peter. Your dad too, Eddie," Ben said. Peter's eyes widened and he stepped back. The color drained from his face and he felt as if the world just got yanked from under him. Eddie put a shaky hand on his shoulder and stood his ground.

"I'm… So, so sorry… Both of you," May said, fighting the tears. Peter couldn't stand on his own two feet. How could this happen? Why their parents? This couldn't be right. He fell back and fainted.

Over the course of three weeks, Peter moved into May and Ben's house and Eddie moved in with his grandparents. The funeral was short and depressing. Eddie didn't cry once. He didn't talk, or even glance over at Peter. They lost contact after a while.

After the funeral, May and Ben brought Peter back home. May hugged him and wiped a tear off his cheek.

"Oh, dear, I know you're sad. Your mother, my sister, and your father… They were good people… Your father wanted to change the world," she said.

Peter didn't say anything. He just stared down at his hands. Five years old and parentless. There was nobody in the world except for Eddie who felt what he did. No, not even Eddie. Surely this wasn't real. This was a dream. A nightmare.

Ben sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. When Peter didn't look up, he nodded at May and they left the room.

That night, Peter stayed awake all night. He didn't cry. No, he just lied there and stared at the wall. Perfectly still. He didn't let out a single sigh, and no tears escaped his eyes. In the morning he sat up and looked out the window. He saw everyone moving around quickly.

He put his head back on his pillow and sighed. He didn't want to move from that spot. He wanted to lay there forever. Stay away from the violence. From everything.


	2. Chapter 2- Great power

The day Ben died, Peter vowed to stop any crimes he can. He put the killer, Dennis Carradine, behind bars. The next day at school, he walked in quickly and kept his head down with his hood up. He didn't want to deal with anybody, especially Flash Thompson. He walked right past Flash, but to Peter's surprise, Flash didn't do anything. He walked to his locker and opened it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a crowd form around him.

Mary-Jane Watson was next to him. His best, and one of his few, friend.

"Peter…" she started. Peter ignored her and put his backpack away. He grabbed his books and closed his locker. He walked past her. The crowd parted for him.

"Peter, wait!" Mary-Jane called and chased after him.

"Not today, MJ," Peter said in a borderline angry voice.

"Pete… Please," she pleaded.

"No!" Peter snapped. "I'm not in the mood to talk to anybody!"

"This isn't like you…" Mary-Jane said in a hurt voice.

"Well excuse me for being upset!" he yelled and stormed off to his first period class. Gwen Stacy walked up to her.

"Well…" Gwen started. "He's not happy."

"Who can blame him?" MJ said. "The only family he has left is his aunt. He has every right to be upset."  
Peter went to a desk in the back, dropped his books on it, and sat down. He kept thinking about Uncle Ben's philosophy.

_With great power comes great responsibility. _

Peter said this in his mind over and over and over again. He didn't know why, but he did.

_Power… _Peter thought as he looked down at his hand. He balled it into a tight fist. He knew what he had to do. He had to clean the streets of New York. But he couldn't do it by crawling up walls. He needed some kind of an edge over the bad guys.

At 3:00, Peter got an idea and quickly walked to his locker to get his stuff. After he closed his locker, Mary-Jane was standing next to the locker door.

"Not now," Peter told her and side-stepped.

"Please?" Mary-Jane asked, intercepting him.

"No," Peter told her, side-stepping again.

"Pretty please?" Mary-Jane asked again, intercepting him a second time. "With a cherry on top?"

"Not now… I, uh, have a lot of homework," Peter made up and ran out of the school, towards his house, and down into his lab in the basement. He pulled out a few of his father's notes.


End file.
